You could watch videos and films for hundreds of hours and study each of their elements into exhaustion. You could read dozens of books on filmmaking. You could listen to podcasts on how filmmakers made their first feature film, and what they learned along the way. Or you could write a script, grab a camera, team up with some actors and other talent you need, and get out there and start creating content.

Far too often we want to learn everything we can before jumping into something new. The best thing you can (likely) do is learn the fundamentals of the craft you seek to master, and simply get out there to make something and then as Seth Godin says, ship it.

It`s scary starting something new, but to get good at anything I believe you must fail, learn, fail, learn, and then ultimately break through towards finding a path to success. Malcolm Gladwell believes it takes 10,000 hours before mastering anything.

Stay foolish, stay hungry, and get out there and create some entertaining videos, starting with one that`s 1 minute or even just 5 seconds long.

If you need some partners or collaborators then get a creators profile on Spidvid, post a project, connect with our community, and build the team who can help you execute your story`s vision.

Jeremy Campbell Rant, community creating content, creating videos, filmmakers, filmmaking, get it done, just do it, make something, ship it, talent, team building, video content, video creation, video creators, video production

I asked a question to our Twitter followers and Facebook fans a couple weeks ago; As a filmmaker, would you sooner create a web series or short film? 13 people said they would sooner create a web series, whereas 7 people insisted they would rather create a short film.

What I know is that I watch many more web series episodes vs short films during a typical week of online viewing. I’m obsessed with watching web series creators and producers increasingly improve the production and entertainment value of their content as we push forward in the rapidly evolving media creation space.

When I first started tracking and covering online video news and production “norms” back in 2006 it’s like night and day compared to just 5 years later, now in 2011. The quality gap between TV series and web series is certainly getting smaller and smaller, as the economics are constantly improving for the semi-pro filmmakers and video creators to show off their creativity, passion, and storytelling.

There are advantages and disadvantages of creating a web series vs a short film (see links below for more reading in this area), and I believe that filmmakers and video creators should do both over time. Create as much quality entertainment as you can, promote it like crazy, see which videos find large audiences and engagement, and create more similar content by doubling down on what actually breaks through the noise. Don’t spend too much money or time in the beginning, if your story resonates with viewers then leverage that when reaching out to producers to help take things to the next level.

The number of entertaining web shows is blowing up, and to me it’s extremely exciting because I see progress every week and believe in the potential going forward. I’m bullish on web series, and it will be interesting to see what big hits emerge out of this space next.

Perhaps now is your time to shine?! If you need to build a team and/or collaborate on your video or film projects, then be sure to join our Spidvid community, and post a project for our talented members to check out!

What do you think of web series vs short film in terms of creation and viewing? The comments are yours below! Here are some opinions from other bloggers on this subject: The Short Film Is Dead, TV vs Web Series vs Indie Film, Indie Filmmaking Death Match: Short Film vs Web Series.

Don’t miss another Spidvid blog post or article! Get our content delivered to your email inbox, or to your favorite RSS reader.

Jeremy Campbell Rant entertainment, Facebook, film, film content, filmmakers, new media, opinions, short film, storytelling, twitter, video, video content, video creators, video entertainment, viewing, vote, web series, web show

When you upload a new entertaining video do you focus on getting attention from bloggers? If not, you should be looking for niche bloggers who write about video content which you produce. Get them to link to your videos, or better yet get them to embed videos directly within their posts so their audiences can watch right away on the same page.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to promote your videos to bloggers, and tap into their large audiences. Bloggers drive roughly 50% of all video views online, so blogger initiatives must be included in your marketing plan! We are proud to sponsor this how to video, along with GoDaddy.

About the creator - Travis Gordon is a video creator who manufactured the brilliant fantasy action web series Spellfury which has now amassed over 3 million views throughout its incredible existence! In addition to being a web series creator, he also teaches others on how to promote their videos to receive more views, comments, likes, subscribers, and love.

If you create videos that may interest us to sponsor, please contact us and let us know how we can mutually benefit together.

Jeremy Campbell resources, video blog attention, audience, audiences, bloggers, blogosphere, embedding, how to, love, marketing, new media, online video, promotion, Spellfury, Travis Gordon, video audience, video content, video embeds, video marketing, video promotion, videos, view views, views, viral, viral video, web video

It’s every video creator’s dream to have his or her video go viral in a short period of time. This means viewers share, spread, and pass along the video to others via email, write a story for their blogs, share it using social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, and discuss it offline with their colleagues at work. What an incredible feeling it would be to be walking down the street and have a total stranger reach out and thank you for creating a video that totally made their day more enjoyable.

Before you dream big about becoming an overnight weblebrity (web celebrity) sensation, you must first strategically think about the elements which make videos go viral in the first place.

Here are some of the most common reasons why a video goes viral

• Humor - People love and can’t resist watching funny videos during the work day, or after getting home while relaxing before dinner. One of the growing content niches in this area are parodies which make fun of shows, movies, or music videos. When done right, parodies do very well online because they are typically based on popular stories (such as the movie Avatar) so many of us have a frame of reference to draw from already.

• Remarkable - If you can’t create humorous content then perhaps you should look towards doing something amazing that catches viewers off guard. Individuals who have outstanding personal talent in singing, acting, or dancing can do quite well. Susan Boyle is a classic example of someone who had an incredible voice but the world didn’t know about it until she appeared on American Idol. You don’t need to have a voice like Susan’s for others to take notice, but you should draw from your unique skill set to do something catchy and memorable.

• Controversial – It’s too bad that controversial content usually spreads faster than other more meaningful heartfelt content, but that’s just the way we are now as a society. Viewers love to pass on gossip related videos, and flock to sites like TMZ to watch the new scandal making its rounds. Michael Buckley of What the Buck? is a classic example of a web celebrity whose videos consistently attract a million views. His passion for commenting on various controversial issues (usually involving celebrities) has earned him tons of rabid fans eager to share whatever he creates.

Now that you know some of the common reasons why a video goes viral, it’s time to focus on the tactics

1. Content is King – We’ve all heard this many times but it’s not entirely true. While it is important that the story and content of your video needs to be really strong, sometimes random videos go viral for no apparent reason. Think of a concept that many of us can understand, relate to, appreciate, respect, and easily talk about. If your video isn’t something that will motivate others to discuss, share, and comment on, then you’re not hitting the right cords.

2. Simple – Keep it short and sweet because our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. An ideal viral video runs between 15-30 seconds. You might wonder how you can squeeze greatness into such a short period of time, so that may be your main challenge. Simply break down long stories into bite-sized clips. Or adopt a sweet kitten that does something like this. It’s cute, short, and perfect for others to remix and share.

3. Metadata - This is likely the least sexy part of putting a video up online but is an extremely important one, especially as hundreds of thousands of new videos get uploaded every day. To have your video discovered you need a catchy title, description, and informative tags because most viewers find content by searching for it. Make your metadata appealing but don’t mislead viewers by using popular names and words if your video doesn’t contain them. There have been many viewer backlashes about false video promises based on the metadata used, so make sure you aren’t the next creator to receive negative and even abusive comments about your content. Accurately describe your video, but be unique in how you position your video in the mind’s of viewers.

4. Reach Out – Promoting your video may very well be the important thing you can do for it. Share it with everyone you know, and encourage them to send it along to their followers and fans if they truly think the content is worthwhile. Tweet about it, share it everywhere you can, write a blog post about it, make sure it’s embeddable, reply to viewer comments to help build a community around your content, and reach out to bloggers who write for the niche your video is in. Connecting with other video creators by placing comments on their channel and videos is also a very smart idea, since many of them pay close attention to those conversations. If a creator likes what you had to say they may check out your profile and portfolio, and be interested in collaborating on a future project with you. Bloggers are the biggest source of views for online videos, so treat these individuals very well if you want to have a video of yours embedded on their treasured Web real estate.

A special note: If you have an interesting script in your hand, or just a concept in mind, don’t be shy to make a video no matter what the quality may be. The main thing is that you have some fun and enjoy yourself, because if you do you will find a way to improve the content quality over time. When you need human talent you know where to go to find like-minded individuals who also want to invest their time into creating a potential viral hit too.

Enjoy this post? Stay updated on all our future ones via email or through your favorite blog reader via RSS. Or if you prefer social media, follow us on Twitter, and fan us up on Facebook.

Jonha Guest Post, Lists, resources create, engage, film, film production, filmmaker, how to, online video, produce, resource, share, spidvid, Spidvid.com, susan boyle, tips, TMZ, video, video content, video creator, video production, viral film, viral video, web video, WhattheBuck

Just a few years ago all that seemed to be online was text based content mainly from boring static websites. Then blog platforms came along to give everyone access to simple publishing tools so content could be created and shared with anyone willing to read it. In the early 2000’s blogs were seen as amateurish, and viewed as a fad that would never get the attention or respect then enjoyed by the big traditional publishers such as newspapers and magazines. Most of the content was of low quality, hard to read, and untrusted. Over time though the content improved, a good selection became readily available on thousands of niches, and so the line between amateur and professional content continues to further blur today.

I think we are now in the same place in time for online video and film, as text content was in the early part of last decade. Individuals are learning how to use the video publishing tools, getting access to low-cost yet powerful creation tools, and viewers are now looking for content outside of what can be watched on their cable TV’s. In fact if you look at the most viewed channels and video content on YouTube, you will see that viewers prefer the newer and smaller video creators versus content coming from the big production studios.

Big production budgets and expensive equipment used to be the recipe for creating quality entertainment capable of reaching millions of eyeballs. The key now for “new media” video creators and filmmakers is standing out, being different, being at the edges where the large producers won’t go, and most importantly connecting with the viewing community.

I think in five years from now we will look back at 2010 as an important year where video creators started to realize that lack of cash and expensive equipment/software were no longer barriers to entry for creating quality content. I would even argue that this has been the case since 2008 or last year, but it seems like just recently individuals are finally realizing the potential their cameras and editing software truly have. Sure video and film content is more challenging to create than text, but far more valuable from a consumption perspective.

Some creators and their text content graduated from being “user generated content” or UGC, to become semi-professional, and I suspect a trend that will continue to gain in traction as we move forward. I believe that many video creators will keep cranking out UGC, but we are starting to see a few of these individuals elevate their game towards producing semi-professional content which is finding large audiences, and can be monetized via sponsorships or advertising.

I also think that the younger and more open-minded film and production school students won’t all come out of school thinking that if they don’t get a job at a TV or film studio they are doomed in their careers. As online audiences continue to grow, and the dollars make their way from TV to the Web, it will inspire and motivate video creators and filmmakers to pursue opportunities outside of the traditional spaces.

If you want to create quality video or film content but struggle because you need to add additional talent and resources to your team, then you should join our production community to connect and collaborate with other like-minded individuals who have what you’re looking for.

Enjoy this post? Stay updated on all our future ones via email or through your favorite blog reader via RSS. Or if you prefer social media, follow us on Twitter, and fan us up on Facebook.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary creating content, film content, film production, new media, online video, producing content, social media, text content, video content, video production, web video